Special Holiday Edition the Ten Dumbest Things People Do to Mess

Volume 5, Number 12 December 2008 Special Holiday Edition Editor’s Note: (Wyman): This year’s Special Holiday Edition presents a comprehensive security strategy that ordinary computer users can follow, from plugging a computer into the outlet and connecting to the Internet, to keeping out the Bad Guys and preparing for disaster. The Ten Dumbest Things People Do to Mess Up Their Computer #1: Plug into the Wall without Surge Protection All it takes to destroy your computer is an ordinary power surge coursing through it. There is no need for a raging electrical storm. Anything that interrupts the power flow to your computer and then starts it again abruptly can fry your system. Something as simple as turning on an appliance that's plugged into the same circuit (e.g., a hair dryer, electric heater, or air conditioner) can cause a power surge. Digital devices, like computers, printers and scanners, are especially vulnerable to surges. Even if your lights go out for just a minute and then come right back on, that could create a surge big enough to bring your system to its knees. And if you haven't backed up your files (see #10 below), your email and files could be gone forever. You can protect your computer, printer, scanner, and other components against damaging power surges by using a computer-grade surge protector. Cheap surge protectors may not respond quickly enough to save your computer, and are only good for one surge. Then you'll have to buy another one anyway. An uninterruptible power supply ("UPS" or "battery backup") is even better. It provides surge protection, and in an outage keeps power flowing for long enough (usually 10-20 minutes) so you can save that file and do a normal shutdown. Better UPSs will even shut down your computer for you before the battery is exhausted, and reboot your computer automatically when the power comes back on. #2: Surf the Internet without a Hardware Firewall and a Software Firewall Many home users plug their computers directly into their new cable or DSL modem and hop right onto the Internet, never stopping to think about the risks they are taking. Every Internet-connected computer should be protected by a hardware firewall. Don’t assume that one is built into your broadband modem or router -- check it out with a technician. Firewall appliances can be inserted between the modem/router and your computer. Every Internet-connected computer should also be protected by a two-way (incoming and outgoing) software firewall that can ward off any threats that get by the hardware firewall. Windows XP only has a one-way software firewall (incoming): that's not good enough anymore. Replace it with a better one. Windows Vista has a two-way firewall built in, but by default it only works one-way (incoming). You have to enable the two- way mode. Make sure you do that. That holds true for Mac OS X, too. A special note of caution for laptop owners. Whether you are on the road, staying at a hotel, or just down the street having a cup of coffee, think twice before you connect to SANS OUCH! Volume 5, Number 12 Page 1 someone else’s network. Do you know if it even has a hardware firewall? Especially on a wireless network, you might be sharing the safe zone created by the firewall with a dozen or more other computers, and who knows what nasty stuff might be loose on them? All the more reason to make double-sure that your laptop has a two-way software firewall installed and providing maximum protection. #3: Turn off the Antivirus Because It Slows Down Your System Antivirus programs can be a pain in the neck. Sometimes they block an application you want to use. Sometimes you have to disable them to install new software. They have to be updated on a regular basis. The software costs money, and then you have to pay more money for the update subscription, which is forever prompting you to renew it. Worst of all, it can slow down your system -- or at least appear to -- which prompts many users to shut it off or uninstall it altogether. "Wow! Now my computer is faster, and as far as I can tell, it's working fine without it." Famous last words. Good-quality antivirus software detects and neutralizes thousands of varieties of viruses, worms, Trojans, and blended-threats. If just one of those nasties makes it on to your computer, not only will your data be toast, but the same nasty can spread from your computer to other computers with disastrous results for family members and co-workers. If you are convinced that your current antivirus is bogging down your computer, don't turn it off. Instead, consider installing a more efficient product. Better yet, shop around for a computer security suite: antivirus, antispyware and a two-way software firewall rolled into one package. This will save you money and installation work, while protecting your computer against a variety of threats. If you aren't sure what to buy, talk with a computer security consultant, read reviews online and in magazines, or call the technical support line provided by the manufacturer of your computer. And don't forget about phishing protection for your browser. Internet Explorer 7 has a phishing filter built-in; make sure it is enabled. FirePhish, an anti- phishing extension for Firefox, is a free download. #4: Install and Uninstall Lots of Programs, Especially Freeware Some computer users are perfectly happy with the software they've used for a long time. They even resist getting newer versions because it requires re-learning how to do things in a different way. For them, the computer is only a tool, and as long as the tool gets the job done, it's fine. Other people, the “Power Users,” insist on having the “beta” version -- the pre-release version -- as soon as it comes out. Beta software is an experimental version of a new program, still under development, and not yet for sale, but which contains “new software or new features and enhancements of existing software.” Some of those may still be untested and unproven, but that adds to the adventure. Betas are usually free, and sometimes "unstable", but they hold the promise of greater things to come that you can try out before other people. There are also many freeware and shareware programs marketed by their authors directly on the Internet as downloads: antivirus programs, screensavers, Web accelerators, smiley faces for email, games, utilities to undelete your files, and music and videos. And every SANS OUCH! Volume 5, Number 12 Page 2 now and then, eager computer enthusiasts succumb to the temptation of grabbing up bootlegged software. So, where's the harm? Everywhere. The more freeware/ shareware programs you install, the more likely you are to run across one that includes malicious code, or interferes with the security software on your computer. Bootlegged software may come on an infected CD or DVD, or be stored on a download server that has been compromised. Pirates are notorious for their lack of caution and sympathy. OK, so you install only licensed, commercial software products -- lots of them. Different problem, same risk. Too many installations and uninstallations can foul up the Windows Registry or another operating system component, and along with that, your security software. Sometimes uninstallers don’t remove every component of a program. Processes may still be running in the background, and those may create security holes now or in the future. Obsolescent software often contains vulnerabilities and security holes that its manufacturer knows about, but is no longer interested in plugging. When that happens, a familiar, trusty program can become a security risk. #5: Keep Your Hard Drive Full and Fragmented Have you checked the free space on your hard drive recently? You may be surprised to find that it’s filling up fast. Why is your disk getting full? Downloading has become an everyday part of using a computer. Thanks to high-speed Internet connections, we can send and receive email attachments quickly and easily with pictures and videos that eat up hundreds of megabytes (millions of bytes) of space. Improvements in hardware and to the Web have transformed computers into all-purpose, networked, multimedia devices. Few ordinary computer users are aware that when they watch a video “online,” some or all of it is stored on their hard drive, temporarily or permanently occupying gigabytes (billions of bytes) of storage space. Operating systems and software programs require patching and updating to keep your computer safe. That’s more downloading and more space used up. New versions of software programs and operating systems with more features and improved security all require more storage space. Many programs create unseen temporary files and need extra free space on the disk to operate. That’s the space problem, but not the whole problem. The more you download and the more software you install, the greater the risk that some kind of malware (viruses, worms, and spyware) will find its way onto your computer. And while it may look like there should still be space left on your hard drive, little or none may actually be available. Your computer may slow down or start crashing. Even worse, programs and processes essential for maintaining its smooth operation may become erratic or not work at all. What began as a storage space problem has turned into a security threat. Every time you install and uninstall a program or add and delete data of any kind, your hard drive becomes “fragmented.” Disk fragmentation occurs because of the way information is stored on a hard disk: when you save something for the first time, it’s all stored in one place, in one piece, as one continuous file.

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